A comprehensive background discussion of mechanical ventilation can be found in “Principles and Practice of Mechanical Ventilation” (1994) edited by Martin J. Tobin, published by McGraw-Hill Inc., ISBN 0-07-064943-7.
The use of nasal Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) to treat Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) was invented by Colin Sullivan, see U.S. Pat. No. 4,944,310. Generally, the treatment involves providing a supply of air or breathable gas from a blower (sometimes referred to as a flow generator) to a patient via an air delivery conduit (e.g. a flexible tube) and a patient interface, such as, for example, a full-face or nasal mask, or nasal prongs. While treatment is effective, some patients find it uncomfortable. Improving patient comfort and compliance is a continuing challenge.
One way to improve comfort is to provide a more comfortable patient interface. In this regard, the ResMed MIRAGE™ masks have provided significant improvement in comfort. See U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,112,746; 6,357,441; 6,581,602; and 6,634,358. A more recent development is the ResMed MIRAGE™ ACTIVA™ mask series. See International Patent Application WO 2001/97893.
In the early days of nasal CPAP systems for treating OSA, patients were first titrated in a clinical study to determine an optimal treatment pressure. Titration involves a patient sleeping overnight in a clinic and being tested with a mask and CPAP device. The treatment pressure provided by the CPAP device is adjusted until apneas are eliminated. The treatment pressure is usually in the range of 4-20 cmH2O. A device would be set to that pressure and given to the patient to take home. A subsequent development was the automatically adjusting device that a patient could take home. The automatically adjusting device will raise and/or lower the treatment pressure based on indications of obstructive sleep apnea, such as snoring. Such CPAP devices are sometime generically referred to as Automatic Positive Airway Pressure (APAP) devices. See U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,245,995; 6,398,739; and 6,635,021.
Another form of automatically adjusting CPAP device is the ResMed AUTOSET™ SPIRIT™ device. In this device, the CPAP pressure is automatically increased or decreased at least during patient inspiration in accordance with indications of flow limitation, such as flow flattening, snore, apnea, and hypopnea. See U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,704,345; 6,029,665; 6,138,675; and 6,363,933. An advantage of an automatically adjusting system is that over time the treatment pressure required may vary for a particular patient and a correctly functioning automatic system can obviate the need for the patient to return for a subsequent sleep study. These patents also describe a method and apparatus for distinguishing between so-called “central” and obstructive apneas.
Another type of nasal CPAP device provides a first pressure during inhalation (sometimes termed an IPAP) and a second, lower pressure during exhalation (sometimes termed an EPAP). Examples of these include the ResMed VPAP™ series, and the Respironics BiPAP series. Bilevel CPAP devices may be prescribed for patients who do not comply with single pressure CPAP devices. Some patients perceive that the lower pressure during exhalation is more comfortable, at least while they are awake.
Another way of improving patient comfort and compliance is to start each therapy session at a low therapeutic pressure, e.g., 4 cmH2O, and ramp up to full therapeutic pressure over the first hour, to allow the patient to adjust to the sensation while falling asleep. Alternatively, the device may set to implement a time delay before full therapeutic pressure is applied, to allow the patient time to fall asleep before full therapeutic pressure is applied. See U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,199,424 and 5,522,382.
The contents of all of the aforesaid patents are incorporated herein by cross-reference in their entireties.
Some OSA patients find treatment with the above devices uncomfortable and they become non-compliant with the therapy. Other patients such as cardiovascular patients with Congestive Heart Failure, patients with REM Hypoventilation, and patients with Respiratory Insufficiency could also benefit from a more comfortable and/or effective form of therapy.
One hurdle in patient compliance occurs in the initial stages of treatment, where a patient may have difficulty in adjusting to the sensations of the therapy and may quit therapy before realizing the benefits of the therapy.
A further hurdle to patient acceptance of the therapy is in the initial fitting of the patient interface (e.g., mask), where the mask fit is tested under relatively low pressure and high flow. This may result in noisy operation of the device and high flow air leaks as the mask is adjusted to the patient, which can be a noisy and unsettling initial experience for the patient.
Other impediments to patient comfort and compliance include the treatment impeding the ability of the patient to communicate to the clinician or bed partner, or the patient or bed partner being disturbed by air leaks from the mask.